Frontier

World History

1860'S

1860 AD 2nd Maori War Begins - The Second Maori war was fought from 1860-1872 between British colonist and native New Zealanders on the North Island. At the end of the largely guerilla war the natives were granted half the island.

1861 AD Pasteurization Introduced – In 1861, thanks to Louis Pastuers work on microorganisms, pasteurization was introduced to milk, beer and other foods to preserve them.

1861 AD Ft. Sumter - Fort Sumter refused to surrender to the Confederates. Sixty-eight soldiers under the command of Major Anderson had been in the fort from December 26th, without supplies. When Lincoln made the decision to resupply the fort, the Confederacy decided to assault it. In the middle of the night of the 12th, Confederate emissaries brought Major Anderson an ultimatum: surrender by 4:00 AM or be fired upon. At 4:30 AM on the 12th, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard gave the order to open fire. The next afternoon Major Anderson surrendered. The war was on.

1861 AD Battle of Bull Run – Federal troops, led by General McDowell advanced towards Manassas Junction, where Confederate troops were dug in, blocking the road to Richmond. Both Confederate and Union troops were not ready for battle. Union troops advanced on Confederate troops, almost breaking through, but at the last moment, Confederate reinforcements arrived at the battle and carried the day. Union troops were routed. There was no organized retreat, rather a mass of soldiers who fled back to Washington.

1862 AD Mighty Russian Five Formed - Five Russian composers – Mili Balakirev, Cesar Cui, Alexander Borodin, Nicholai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Modest Mussorgsky– decide to form a group to promote Russian national music.

1862 AD Battle of Antietam – In the aftermath of the Confederate victory at Manassas, General Lee led his army into Maryland– in a gamble to win the war. His plans fell into Union hands, and the Union army massed against him outside a little town in Maryland, called Sharpsburg, near the Antietam Creek. In a day long battle, 23,582 Americans became casualties. Both sides lost an equal number of men. The Confederate force, which was much smaller, however, was forced to withdraw. In the aftermath of the battle– considered to be a Union victory, Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation.

1863 AD Battle of Gettysburg - The Battle of Gettysburg took place around this small Pennsylvania town, when Confederate forces foraging for shoes encountered a Union cavalry brigade guarding the town. Both sides quickly brought their main units to bear. In the first day of the battle, Confederate troops forced Union forces back, but at a very heavy cost. The second day, Confederates attacked heavily fortified Union positions, and were repulsed on every attempt. Finally, on the third day, Lee's forces attempted to attack the Union Center. The attack was called "Pickett's Charge." Less than half of the men involved in the charge returned. Gettysburg marked the last time the Confederates attempted to bring about a decisive battle on Union soil.

1865 AD War of Triple Alliance – On April 2nd, word reached Richmond that lines in Petersburg had broken. Richmond would have to be evacuated. The next day, Lincoln was able to visit Richmond. On April 7th, Lee's surrounded (and hungry) army was forced to surrender.

1865 AD Civil War Ends – On April 2nd, word reached Richmond that lines in Petersburg had broken. Richmond would have to be evacuated. The next day, Lincoln was able to visit Richmond. On April 7th, Lee's surrounded (and hungry) army was forced to surrender.

1865 AD Lincoln Assassinated – Just six days after the South surrendered, President Lincoln was shot by an assassin, while attending a play at Ford's Theater. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was killed during his capture, twelve days later. The rest of the conspirators were also apprehended and all four were hung on July 8th.

1865 AD Alice's Adventure in Wonderland Published – Lewis Carol published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865. He went on to write Through the Looking Glass and other works.

1865 AD 13th Amendment Passed - On December 18th 1865, the 13th amendment to the Constitution was officially ratified. This amendment stated that neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude could exist in the United States.

1866 AD Reconstruction Passed - The end of the Civil War necessitated a decision specifying the terms by which the South could be readmitted to the Union. Both Lincoln and Johnson took the position that the South had never left the Union and therefore the question of readmission was moot. The Congress had other ideas and passed a series of laws imposing military control over the South.

1866 AD Seven Weeks War – The Seven Weeks War began on June 15th with a Prussian invasion of Saxony which was an Austrian ally. The war was the idea of Bismark whose wished to strengthen German unity which Austria opposed. The Austrians were defeated in the battle of Sadowa. On August 23 the Austrians and the Prussians signed the Treaty of Prague which was favorable to Prussia. Austria was forced to cede Schleswig-Holstien as well as Frankfurt and Hanover to Prussia. Austria was also forced to accept the creation of the Northern German Confederation.

1866 AD Blue Danube Waltz Presented – Johann Strauss the younger first presents his Blue Danube Waltz, which later became one of the most popular and familiar works of European music.

1867 AD Alaska Purchased – Secretary of State Seward negotiated the US purchase of Alaska from Russia for the sum of $7 million. The purchase was not universally popular and the treaty was approved by a vote of 27 to 12, only one vote more than the two-thirds needed to approve the treaty

1868 AD Johnson Impeached – President Johnson constantly clashed with Congress, which wished to impose a significantly more radical version of reconstruction on the South. Finally, the radicals in Congress decided to try to impeach and indict Andrew Johnson. The impeachment vote passed in the House. The Senate voted 35 for and 19 against conviction; one vote short of the needed 2/3rds majority.

1868 AD France Recognizes Kingdom of Merina in Madagascar – The Hova Queen of Madagascar died after a 5 year reign. Ranavalona II succeeded her. The power behind her throne was her husband, a Christian, Rainilaiarrivony. France recognized the kingdom sovereignty in Madagascar.

1868 AD Meiji Restoration – The Meiji restoration began when the newly established emperor Mutsuhito ousted the shogante of the Tokugawaw clan that had ruled Japan since 1603. The new emperor restored direct imperial rule of Japan. The Mutsuhito began the modernization of Japan.

1868 AD Revolution in Spain – On September 18, 1868 the officers of the Spanish fleet began a revolution. They marched on Madrid and defeated government forces. Isabella was forced to flee. The military announced the formation of a provisional government, and created a constitutional monarchy.

1869 AD 15th Amendment Passed – Despite the fact that the 14th Amendment indirectly provided the vote to Afro-Americans, many Southern states continued to find ways not to permit Blacks to vote. Therefore, on the 15th of February, Congress passed the 15th Amendment which made this right explicit. Congress did not, however, include the right for women to vote in this amendment.

1869 AD Brazil - Itiber da Cunha, an amateur musician and pianist, publishes A Sertaneja, a piece for piano. In it, da Cunha emulates urban popular music, and even quotes a popular tune of the time. A Sertaneja is considered the first nationalist composition published in Brazil.

1869 AD Suez Canal Opened – On November 17, 1869 the Suez Canal opened to traffic. The canal linked the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. It was 103 miles long and it brought Oriental ports 5,000 miles closer to Europe. Work had begun on the canal in 1859. It was financed primarily by French investors. The canal increased the strategic importance of Egypt to European powers.

1869 AD Transcontinental Rail Service Begun in the United States – On May 10th, at Promontory Point, Utah, a golden rail spike was struck, completing the first transcontinental railroad line. The spike joined the lines of the Union-Pacific Railroad being built westward, from Omaha, Nebraska; and those of the Central-Pacific being built eastward, from Sacramento, California.

1870'S

1870 - The Territory of Utah allows women to vote.

1870 - Pius IX convenes the First Vatican Council at which papal infallibility is proclaimed on matters of faith and morals.

1870 – Diamond deposits have been discovered in southern Africa, at Kimberley in the land of the Griqua, or Griqualand, on the northern frontier of the British colony. Diamond diggers are rushing there – Africans, whites from Europe, Australia and the Americas.

1870 – Australia now has a substantial number of Germans and Catholic Irish who worshiped freely. The Irish have found Australia to be without the oppressions they had known in Ireland.

1870 – Bismarck believes that war will arouse nationalist fervor and serve to unite the independent German states with Prussia. France opposes such unity. Bismarck wants a showdown with France and tricks the French into starting war. The Franco-Prussian War begins in July. In September the Prussians defeat the French decisively at Sedan and capture the French emperor, Napoleon III. The emperor is deposed. France's Second Empire ends and Third Republic begins.

1870 – In Britain, France, Germany, Austria and in Scandinavian countries, trade relative to population size has increased four to five times what it was in 1830. In Belgium and the Netherlands the increase is about three times.

1871 – The war between Prussia and France officially ends with the Treaty of Frankfurt. Bismarck's success has enhanced respect among Germans for his authoritarianism as opposed to the liberalism of his critics. Bavaria agrees to unify with Prussia. France cedes to Germany Alsace and Lorraine, and it is not popular among the people there. French forces crush the Paris Commune, and as many as 30,000 "Communards" and innocent Parisians are summarily executed.

1871 – The Meiji government sends a few men to Europe and to the US, hoping to secure abolition of the Unequal Treaties and to examine Western technology, banking and agricultural techniques – the Iwakura Mission.

1871 - Life expectancy at birth in England has risen from 36 years in 1700 to 41 years. (Calculated in a study in the 1980s by the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure.)

1872 – In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Charles Taze Russell begins what will become the Jehovah's Witnesses.